About

Democratic Party

The Democratic Party is one of two major political parties in the United States. The basis of the Democratic Party is liberal and is considered center-left in the political spectrum. Center-left is defined as a political term that characterizes individuals, political parties or organizations whose ideology rests between the center and the left on the political spectrum (excludes far left stances.) The principal ideologies of the center-left are progressive, social democracy, social liberalism, as well as green politics. (Charles Funderburk, Robert G. Thobaben (1989). Political ideologies: left, center, right. Harper & Row.)

Liberal democracy is a particular form of democracy which is based upon a fundamental set of assumptions about the individual, the state and society. Liberal democracy assumes that the individual has both human rights and civil rights. Human rights are considered above man-made law and derive from the concept of natural law, they generally include equality and usually private property. Along with this concept of rights goes the idea of a limited state. Liberal democracy assumes that the state should interfere as little as possible with the individuals life but restrain the individual enough not to interfere with the freedom of others. Lastly, another major assumption of liberal democracy is that of popular participation. “Democrats believe in rights of the individual citizen. These rights include life, liberty, security, equality of opportunity, justice, privacy, and private ownership of property. Democrats believe that each American citizen should have the right to all of the above things without interference from other citizens or the government. Democratic beliefs also honor the freedoms of the individual – freedom to worship as he or she may choose, freedom of thought, freedom of conscience, freedom of assembly, freedom of inquiry, freedom of expression, and freedom to participate in the political process. The Democratic point of view...

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

...﻿
How Democratic Was Andrew Jackson?
Democracy is defined as rule by the people, either directly or through elected representatives. Politically, being a democracy basically means the people have a say in government. A democratic person would typically believe in voting rights for all adults, the right to run for political office, freedom of speech, majority rule, and many other things. Andrew Jackson seemed to be the main political leader with this type of government. Some say that he was the founder of the DemocraticParty, but he was not democratic in all circumstances. The policies that he put on the Native Americans did not show democracy at all. While some of his decisions, like giving everyone a chance in the government and closing the national bank, were fairly democratic.
I believe Jackson was both democratic and undemocratic. He did have democratic ideas, but his ideas didn’t actually always benefit all of the people. For example, “Andrew Jackson’s Bank Veto Message to Congress,” he explains that the bank is “almost a monopoly of the foreign and domestic exchange” (Document 4). I believe he had a point in when he talked about how much power the few rich men had. He said that they often bend the laws of government for their own self purposes using money. In the quote above it also seems like he is just trying to keep the money and power in America, but...

...more citizens to vote, due to better education, changes in political parties, and an increase in newspaper circulation. Western states also adopted these laws, which was called Universal male suffrage. All white males from one end of the country to the other were aloud to vote regardless of their religion or social class, and could hold government jobs, even if they were in the middle or lower classes. Also, voters and politicians now nominated candidates, rather than the political party leaders in Congress. This and other events led to a more democratic society.
Jackson also gave government jobs to regular people. This was called the spoils system. He appointed people to federal jobs depending on whether they had campaigned for the DemocraticParty. Anyone currently in office who was not a democratic was replaced with a democrat. This was called the spoils system because it promoted a corrupt government. He also believed in rotation in office. He wanted to make it possible for more democrats to have government jobs, so he limited a person's time in office to one term. The spoils system showed how one man was no better than another and helped build a strong two-party system.
In the two-party system, supporters of Jackson were Democrats and supporters of his rival, Henry Clay, were the Whigs. The Democraticparty resembled the old...

...﻿The DemocraticParty
The DemocraticParty is the oldest political party in the United States. It has existed for more than two centuries. In order to understand the creation of the DemocraticParty, one must understand the creation of other major political parties in the United States. The DemocraticParty came into existence in the late 1700s with the development of the Republican Party. Thomas Jefferson adopted the Republican name to emphasize their views and advocated a decentralized government with limited powers. In addition to this, the Federalist Party came into existence. Alexander Hamilton created the Federalist Party, which favored a strong central government. In response to this Federalist Party, Thomas Jefferson created the Anti-Federalist Party. The Anti-Federalists were in favor of the addition of the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution. The Federalists responded to the Anti-Federalists by naming them the Democratic-Republican Party for the “radical democrats” of the French Revolution. The Republican Party eventually adopted the name and served as the first opposition party in power in the United States. Therefore, in the beginning of United States history, the...

...﻿
Bystanders need to make a change and take action
“You can`t wake person who is pretending to be asleep”-Navajo Proverb
People act as if nothing is happening when they do not want to face the reality of the situation by pretending to be unaware or unsure despite being presented with the evidence. Many people now a days, perform actions which may seem like they are participating in an activity but in reality they are just watching. People do not focus on the situation itself, but they focus on their surroundings. They understand that they might be in a difficult position although they try to avoid it. Some situations where humans experience themselves being in one place physically and having themselves in a different spot mentally are when people are being bystanders. Bystanders are people who are present in an event or incident but do not participate or act upon it. Bystanders have always been a part of the world’s natural occurrences. The bystander effect has occurred in history intensively up to this period of time. The bystander effect has been present in the Holocaust, the Partition of India and Pakistan and Barack Obama being appointed as the first African-American president.
The bystander effect occurred all the way back to the 1900’s, during the time of World War 2. There was a destructive event that took place, it was called The Holocaust. The Holocaust was a great devastation sacrifice completed with fire. It was systematic mass slaughter of European Jews...

...﻿How the DemocraticParty Came To Be
The history of the DemocraticParty can be traced back to the 1792 when America was trying to decide whether to approve the United States Constitution or to continue to be governed by the Articles of Confederation.
In deciding whether to approve the new Constitution, debates began to occur throughout America about whether the Articles of Confederation were better than the new Constitution. On one end there was the Federalist Party, led by Alexander Hamilton, which favored a strong central government and the ratification of the new Constitution. Most of the people that supported the Federalists were on average wealthier and more educated than the standard American. On the other end there was the Democratic-Republic Party, which was started in response to the start of the Federalist Party. The Democratic-Republic Party, formed by Thomas Jefferson, was supported by mostly poorer people; they favored stronger state legislatures, weaker central government, and were against ratification of the new Constitution. They were concerned that the new Constitution did not give specific rights to the people.
In the end the Constitution was approved. However, that approval was just the beginning of the Democrat’s story. Up until 1800 The Federalist Party controlled the government. Then Thomas...

...﻿Research Web
Your topic: The Second Amendment
Fill in the list of resources relating to the topic you selected. Two sources have been provided for you to assist in your research. Explore the provided sources and add sources from your own research. Use your Research Process Notes from this lesson if you need help remembering the research strategies introduced in this lesson.
Multi-media Sources: videos, audio, slideshows, or graphics
Source 1: http://time.com/
http://content.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,1032435604001_2080292,00.html
Source 2: foxnews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/topics/us/second-amendment.htm
Source 3: http://abcnews.go.com/
http://abcnews.go.com/topics/news/us/second-amendment.htm
Domain-Specific Vocabulary/Key Terms: (include definitions or descriptions)
1. Second amendment
Protects the right of individuals to keep and bear arms.
2. Guns
A weapon incorporating a metal tube from which bullets, shells, or other missiles are propelled by explosive force, typically making a characteristic loud, sharp noise.
3. Constitution
A body of fundamental principles, or established precedents according to which a state, country or other organization is acknowledged to be governed.
4. Federal
Having or relating to a system of government in which several states form a unity but remain independent in internal affairs.
5. The right to bear arms
The second amendment of the United States.
Landmark Case...

...Jackson made changes to our country in hopes of increasing its chances of longevity; however his methods in doing so are to this day very controversial. While Andrew Jackson was known as “the people’s president” his methods for improving America were quite ambiguous, and the concept of Jacksonian democracy is highly criticized. Andrew Jackson made contributions to our country while holding office; however his tactics were anything but democratic.
Growing up on the frontier Andrew Jackson was the first president to not grow up wealthy, later in his life it proved to be useful in trying to appeal to voters, which proved to be successful. Yet in the race for presidency, even though he had won the votes, he did not win the election; John Quincy Adams, with the help of Jackson’s enemy Henry Clay, became president. In the next election to come Andrew Jackson had proved to be more successful, in acquiring the role of the president, both Jackson, and his ally Martin Van Buren, created a political organization, in what is now known as the democraticparty. All seemed well, and politically Andrew Jackson had not made a mistake yet, However although he was known as a man of the people, Jackson believed in and promoted slavery. Jackson owned a plantation named The Hermitage. The Hermitage was a huge self-sufficient plantation that raised cotton and relied on the labor of African American men, women, and children. On his plantation there was...

...Democrats and Republicans have many different views on how to make America grow. Both parties want the same outcome for most part. When it comes to getting things done for Americans, Democrats and Republicans don’t see eye to eye on issues. Let’s talk about some of the issues both parties cover such as, healthcare, taxes, education, same sex marriage, and immigration; Covering Democrats first and then Republicans views on the previously mentioned issues.
Democrats believe Americans should not go broke just because they get sick. Making insurance companies cover pre-existing conditions and kids would benefit working families. Insurance companies will no longer be able to arbitrarily cap and cancel coverage, or charge women more simply because of their gender. Their views could help so many but, who will pay for this cost? The government would have to keep insurance companies from raising rates. Obama states “No law is perfect and Democrats stand willing to work with anyone to improve the law where necessary”.
Tax reform is a big issue when it comes to the American people. Democrats want to extend the tax cuts that George W Bush had put in place for middle class Americans. They feel that raising the taxes on any one making 250,000 more a year is in order. Having the wealthiest and corporations pay their fair share. Democrats want to give middle class families tax cuts that will not injure economic vitality. Lowering the corporate tax rate....